High top rainproof footwear



July 10, 1956 G. EADE 2,753,635

HIGH TOP RAINPROOF FOOTWEAR Filed Aug. 13, 1953 INVENTOR.

GLEN EADE BY fiaba/w United States Patent HIGH TOP RAINPROOF FOOTWEAR Glen Eade, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Peek-A-Boot Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Application August 13, 1953, Serial No. 374,069

Claims. (Cl. 36-73) This invention relates to one-piece molded high top plastic waterproof footwear of special shape, to the method of forming the same and to the specially shaped mold upon which said footwear is formed.

In high top plastic waterproof footwear, also known as rain boots, it is customary to provide a sufficiently large foot-entering opening to permit of the insertion of a shoe within the boot, and while such a large opening is necessary for this purpose, it results in an excess of material in the boot so far as a good fit is concerned around the ankle area of the wearers foot. Heretofore, the entry has been in the shape of a relatively straight tube-like opening of large diameter which, after the boot is on the shoe, has been tightened around the ankle by means of ties or by other means. In such a construction, after tightening, the material of the boot in the ankle area becomes wrinkled and creased in an unsightly manner due to the crowding of the excess material as it is bunched around the ankle by the closure means.

It is an object of the present invention to provide high top waterproof footwear with an ankle portion which will not only readily permit the entry of the wearers shoe but which will also fit snugly around the wearers ankle without any unsightly bunching or creasing.

It is a further object of the invention to provide onepiece high top waterproof footwear with a reversely folded expandable tongue in the ankle portion of the footwear.

The footwear is formed on a specially shaped mold for the dip molding of the footwear above set forth wherein means are provided to form the reversely folded expandable tongue as the footwear is stripped from the mold. A mold is provided which, in addition to the shape generally required for the footwear, has an additional member extending forwardly of the ankle area of the mold in the shape of a pair of wing-like members upon which the reversely folded expandable tongue is formed.

Other purposes and objects of the invention will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the new mold with a rain boot formed thereon,

Figure 2 is a side view of the mold,

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the mold taken on lines 3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the rain boot provided with a tongue,

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on lines 55 of Figures 4- and 6, and

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on lines 6-6 of Figure 5.

Articles of the character described may be made by dip-molding and by so called slush molding. In dipmolding a suitably shaped mold is dipped into curable molding material while in slush molding the curable molding material is poured into a hollow mold of suit- 2,753,635 Patented July 10, 1956 able shape. While the invention is applicable to both types of molding, the particular embodiment herein disclosed is directed to the dip-molding process.

In the dip-molding process, a preheated mold of suitable shape is dipped into a molding material, such as plastic in liquid state, having physical characteristics of a heavy cream-like consistency while in the uncured state and which when cured by heating, after the dipping operation, results in an elastic-like plastic material whichmay be stripped from the mold, the stripping operation reversing the material so that the mold-side thereof becomes the outside of the article. The size and shape of the mold plus the cured material determine the size and shape of the finished article.

In the drawings a dip-mold is shown at 10 having an ankle portion 11, a toe portion 12, a heel portion 13, and a protruding portion 14 extending forwardly of the ankle portion 11. The mold, which is hollow, comprises a thin shell of uniform thickness, highly polished where the material of the boot is to have a smooth surface and unpolished where the material is to have cloudy or roughened surface, such as at. the top, the sole and the heel of the boot.

The hollow extension 14, of T-shape in cross-section,

see Fig. 3, is relatively flat with hollow wing-like extensions 15 and 16, of equal extent, centrally disposed in front of and spaced from the ankle portion 11 and being joined thereto by the spaced curve-shaped walls 17 and 18 forming the leg of the T.- The wing-like extensions 15 and 16, of V-shape, deepest at their upper end, taper toward each other so that at their lower terminal end 19 the depth is substantially reduced. As the extensions 15 and 16 taper, the spaced walls 17 and 18 approach each other, their closest proximity being at the terminus 20 just to the rear and below the square end 19 of the projection 14. It should be noted that the terminal edges of wings 15 and 16 are curved, as are the walls 17 and 18 and termini 19 and 20. All exterior surfaces are curved so that the boot may be smoothly formed and so that it may be readily stripped from the form. It will be understood that extension 14 and wings 15 and 16 are not limited to the particular shape illustrated and may be varied without departing from the invention.

After the curing operation of an article of footwear made upon the mold 10, it is stripped. from the mold while reversing it, and, after being stripped, appears as shown in Figure 4 at 21, after trimming excess material from the top and after adding ties 22. The boot 21 now has an outwardly bulging expandable tapered bellows-tongue 14 extending centrally thereof forwardly of the boot and joined to web portions which extend between the fold lines 15', 17' and the fold lines 16', 18 of the boot. The side edges of tapered tongue 14', fold lines 15', 16, and fold lines 17', 18' converge downwardly but are spaced apart somewhat at their lower ends to form the inwardly extending generally triangularly shaped base (looking down from above the boot) of pocket or shelf element 26. The fold lines 15, 16 were formed about the curved side edges of wings 15, 16 respectively; the fold lines 17', 18 were formed in the curve-shaped walls 17, 18 respectively; and pocket or shelf element 26 was formed about terminal end 19 of the projection 14. The portion 20', Fig. 5, is formed about the terminus 20 of the form. It should be noted that the curved fold lines, and the pocket or shelf element in the boot, extend in the opposite direction to their corresponding surfaces on. the mold, that is where the mold surface is concave as at 17 and 18, the fold lines 17', 18' are convex, and where the mold surface is convex as at 15, 16 and 19, the fold lines 15', 16' and pocket or shelf element 26 are concave. The material formed about the lower ends 19 and 20 of the form being thus arranged, when reversed, to comprise the bottom of pocket 26., of which the side formed about 19 is disposed at the lower end of tongue 14. While tongue 14 appears to be folded in Figs. 4 and :5, :this is a permanently formed told .but merely the natural dnapingof the tongue material when the footwear is stripped from :the mold.

- The rain boot .21 is thus provided with an expandable ankle portion :by means of which may .be readily placed over the wearers shoe and which, :once in place, will return to the shape shown in Figure 4 with the tongue re-iiolded to provide a :trim and sung fit about the ankle, so that. when the ties 22 are .tied 'to :keep the boot on, there will be no unsightly crowding or bunching of the material- It should be understood that the invention is not limited tol'lzhe particular shape of the tongue forming projection 14 as variations may be made therein within the spirit of the invention. It should be noted that .the present invention provides 'high top oneepiece molded plastic waterproof footwear having a built-in waterproof tongue which expands and contracts on permanent fold lines as required and which fits the foot in a trim and snug manner.

I claim:

1.. As an article of manufacture, a one-piece highto.p rainproof footwear of elastic material .having an inwardly extending expandable bellows-tongue in the ankle portion thereof, the material having a spaced pair of inner and a spaced pair of outer permanently formed fold lines therein, said pairs of fold lines extending from the upper edge of the footwear to the instep thereof and said pairs of fold .lines being spaced from each other longitudinally throughout their length.

2. As an article of manufacture, a one-piece high-top rainprooffootwear of elastic material having an inwardly extending expandable bellows-tonguein the ankle portion thereof, the front ankle portion material being folded inwardly and outwardly about permanently formed gen- A; erally V-shaped fold lines therein, said fold lines converging downwardly ,from the upper edge of the footwear to the instep thereof to provide fold lines for said tongue, said inward fold lines being spaced inwardly from said outward fold lines throughout their length.

3. As an article of manufacture, a one-piece high-top rainproof footwear of elastic material having an inwardly extending expandable bel lows tongue in the ankle portion thereof, the front angle portion material being folded about a spaced pair of 'inner and a spaced pair of outer permanently formed generally V-shaped fold lines therein, said fold lines converging downwardly from the upper edge of the footwear to the instep thereof to provide fold lines for said tongue, one pair of said V-shaped fold lines directing the material inwardly while the other thereof directs the material outwardly of the footwear to form said tongue, one pair of said fold lines being spaced throughout its length from the other pair thereof.

4. Footwear as set forth in claim 3 in which :the material between the instep ends of said spaced pairs of fold lines forms an element which assists in maintaining said bellows-tongue within the ankle portion.

5. Footwear as set forth in claim 3 in which the said outer pair of said generally V-shaped fold lines has its instep ends in close proximity while the said inner pair has its instep ends spaced to form a generally triangularly shaped .shel-f between the said :instep ends of said spaced pairs of fold lines.

References Cited in the file of this patent STATES PATENTS 708,547 Hamilton Sept. 9, 1902 1,817,300 Dorogi et a1. .l. Aug. 4, 1931 2,309,520 McCandlish Jan. 26., 1943 2,389,009 Tillotson Nov. 13, 1945 2,462,239 Van Dinter Feb. 22, 19 49 2,552,064 .Rollman May 8, 1951 2,662,308 Loewengart Dec. 5, 19 53 

